Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - China - Macau Special Administrative Region (Ratification: 1999)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Form and scope of minimum wage-fixing machinery. The Committee notes the adoption of the Labour Relations Law (Law No. 7/2008), which however does not provide for the establishment and operation of a machinery whereby minimum wages can be fixed for low-paid unskilled workers. It also notes the Government’s indication that by Chief Executive Order No. 250/2007 minimum wages have been fixed only for employees of companies which provide cleaning and security services to public establishments. The Government further explains that it is seeking to make progress with regard to the establishment of a system of minimum wages and, in this respect, the employer and worker members of the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs have agreed to begin work by carrying out thematic studies on the possible adoption of minimum wages for janitors and guards in the property management sector. The Government is planning to entrust an independent research institution to prepare such a study. The Committee hopes that the Government will intensify its efforts to establish, in consultation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned, a minimum wage-fixing machinery which would comply with the requirements of the Convention, i.e. participation of employers and workers concerned in equal numbers and on equal terms, binding force of minimum wage rates, and a system of supervision and sanctions ensuring that wages are not paid at less than the applicable minimum rates. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress made in this regard and also to clarify whether consideration is given to the possibility of extending minimum wage coverage to other sectors, such as the hotel and catering sector.